Eurodisney

Jacob Skinner
Case 2-1: Disney
MARK4050
1. Factors that contributed to EuroDisney's poor performance during its first year of operation: * French visitor's stayed away. They were expected to make up 50% of attendance figures. "The French see EuroDisney as American imperialism-plastics at its worst." The case mentions that French culture has "its own loveable cartoon characters" one of which (Asterix) has a theme park located near EuroDisney. Initial advertising of the park also aggravated the local populous, many of them felt that Disney was emphasizing glitz and size rather than the amenities they offered. * Initial construction of the park also facilitated the financial burden of Disney. Expensive trams were built to take guests from the hotels to the park, but visitors preferred walking, these additional add-ons cost Disney an additional $340 million. * Economic impact, external factors, and competition: High interest rates and the devaluation of several currencies against the franc. The 1991 Gulf War crisis limited vacation travel for the rest of that year. In 1992, the opening of EuroDisney also had to contend with European's desire to travel to the World's Fair in Seville and the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.
Factors that contributed to Hong Kong Disney's (HKD) poor performance during its first year: * Perhaps being overly cautious of making the same mistakes as EuroDisney, HKD was developed to be a much smaller amusement park. Chinese consumers felt the park was too small and had little to excite those unfamiliar with Disney's cast of characters. Liang Ning who visited the park with his family said he wanted to feel like he was in a fairytale. Instead he says "it's just not big enough" and "not very different from the amusement parks we have". The park initially had just 16 attractions and only one classic Disney thrill ride. * Many guests of HKD had little to no knowledge of Disney characters. Disney characters were banned for nearly 40 years, so knowledge of Disney lore is limited. * Early advertising of HKD featured a family consisting of two kids and two parents, this posed a problem because China's government limits most couples to just one child. 2. To what degree were these factors (A) foreseeable and (B) controllable (I based these on a scale of 1-5; 1 being the lowest 5 being the highest): * Being viewed as an Imperialist (A)=4 and (B)=3. It is common knowledge that many Europeans feel this way about Americans in general. Therefore I think it should have been fairly foreseeable that an American based company would be exposed to these views initially. I also think that it could have possibly been controlled better by observing the other amusement parks in Europe and seeing what was successful. However, overcoming that initial vibe would be difficult regardless. * As far as initial construction I feel that (A)=5 and (B)=5. This aspect of the park was most definitely foreseeable and controllable. Conducting focus groups, or observing the local people in their natural environment would have allowed Disney to see that many Europeans prefer to walk. * While the Olympics are scheduled years in advance, the economic impact, and external factors would be hard to predict. In my opinion, in that instance I would say (A)=2 and (B)=1 * In regards to the size of HKD, (A)=4 and (B)=5. With more market research it would have been very possible to see that the Chinese people were open to a different style Amusement park then normal (more rides and space). It is also highly controllable because the created the park from scratch, it was not a preexisting site. * The knowledge of Disney characters, (A)=5 and (B)=1 . I'm sure Disney knew that the Chinese people had no idea about Disney characters for 40 years, they also had no control over that. * Early advertising with 2 children, (A)=5 and (B)=5. It is common knowledge that many Chinese families are limited to one child. Producing an advertisement depicting 2 children is certainly foreseeable as a problem and highly controllable. 3. Ethnocentrism played a huge role in the story of EuroDisney along with self-reference criterion (SRC). While it may be true that bigger is always better here in America, other cultures may not feel the same. The case states that many local people were aggravated by the emphasis on glitz and the size of EuroDisney rather than the attractions. Also, the vacation customs are vastly different in Europe when compared to the U.S. Americans tend to take shorter more frequent vacations, while many Europeans opt for a longer one time vacation generally planned for August. 4. I view Disney's cross-cultural marketing skills as average (current with this case). It seem as though they focused more on what to do (brick & mortar) rather than to focus on what the consumers perceived as valuable. One of the larger mistakes they made was the HKD advertisement toward families with two children. A multibillion dollar company should not make simple mistakes of that nature. 5. Disney is surely not the first company to ever become predisposed with initial successes. The Japanese public was so receptive to Disney that they probably thought EuroDisney and HKD locations were a no brainer. They failed to realize that EVERY country has a different culture, with that culture comes different values, beliefs, wants, and needs. If they plan to continue expanding it is important to remember that Disneyland is not just a cookie cutter type product.…...

Similar Documents

...Kong had very few rides compared to the theme park in Paris.
· Did not offer current or hit movie theme based rides that were popular in China at that time.
2. to what degree do you consider that these ffactors were (a) foreseeable and (b) controllable by EuroDisney, Hong Kong Diisney, or the parent company, Disney?
I believe that most of the mentioned factors were very foreseeable and controlable. It just depends on how hard the Disney companies were willing to look and observe the countries behaviors. When conducting business over seas, Disney should have hired some specialist in that specific country and scout out all of the possible aspects and new trends that are happening. If they would have done this, then they would have been able to minimize the failure rate tremendously. Also, Disney failed to adapt to their new countries environment from one market to the other, once they figured Paris out, they just assumed that Hong Kong was going to have the same hardships, when they are two complete different cultures with different backgrounds.
3. what role does ethnocentrism play in the story of Euro Disney's launch?
I believe that ethnocentrism did play a huge role in Euro Disneys launch and bad streak. When EuroDisney launched their big break, they expected their the French visiting population to make up 50 percent of the attendance figures; when in reality, the French stayed away, because they are basically anti-american in a sense. The reason why France did not......

...rooms at the park were charging rates comparable to luxurious hotels. People found it cheaper to fly to Disney World Florida and get an additional benefit of enjoying the weather.
The Gulf war in 1991 also had a negative and during the same period, Europe was facing a recession.
The French, for some reason, did not like the American culture while Disney tried to enforce this culture.
The world fair in Spain and the Olympics in Barcelona in 1992 attracted holiday visitors hence, EuroDisney did not have many guest visiting it that year.
Hong Kong Disneyland faced different issues. Firstly, people were not familiar with the characters since Disney was banned for 40 years in China. The park was small, with just a few rides compared to other Disneyland's, therefore customers were not interested. Despite these issues, it fared better since it incorporated a lot of Chinese culture.
2. To what degree do you consider that these factors were (a) foreseeable and (b) controllable by EuroDisney, Hong Kong Disney, or the parent company, Disney?
Since the cost of Disney World Florida was cheaper, customers preferred to fly to the US. This meant that prices in Paris could also be controlled. There were several other mistakes made by the management; for instance, alcohol was banned although consuming wine with meals was a French tradition. The reason for banning alcohol in the park could be justified but it was not acceptable by the French due to their tradition.
These......

...EuroDisney
1. What factors contributed to EuroDisney’s poor performance during its first year of operation?
The factors contributing to EuroDisney’s poor performance are:
a) Hotel Rooms were high priced.
b) Poor Attendance in 1992.
c) Gulf War in 1991.
d) The World’s Fair in Seville, Spain.
e) The 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
f) Too few seats at restaurants for guests at breakfast.
g) No alcohol served with meals
h) French visitors stayed away from EuroDisney (Cateora, Graham, 2007, pp. 614-616)
2. To what degree do you consider these factors were
a) Foreseeable because Disney knew they were taking a risk by opening the theme park. The post Gulf War kept visitors from taking summer vacations. The World’s Fair in Seville and the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona drew visitors away from EuroDisney. Disney didn’t know what to expect for breakfast and was unprepared.
b) Controllable because Disney could have anticipated the French custom of having wine with every meal. They could have lowered costs on hotel rooms and flights into Paris to see EuroDisney right away. (Cateora, Graham, 2007, pp. 614-616)
3. What role does ethnocentrism play in the role of EuroDisney’s launch?
Ethnocentrism played an important role in the story of EuroDisney’s launch that Disney believed that the French visitors would really go for a Disney theme park. The variety the theme park had to offer needed to change to attract French visitors...

...or twice in a lifetime.
It is also noteworthy that Disney did not take the same precautionary methods with Europe that it did with Japan. Disney Japan was very successful, because the market was very receptive to Disney in Tokyo. Disney also used a Japanese research group, Japanese construction companies, basically outsourced every part of the project they could to Japan which is arguably the reason for its success. The Japanese know best what they want, so it was right for Disney to delegate certain responsibilities to Japan.
With EuroDisney, however, Disney decided use a US research group instead of a French research group. Had they used a French research group, they would have noticed that the market in that company was not as receptive to Disney. Disney should have delegated as much responsibility to France as possible in order to get the desired results.
It seemed as if Disney had a cookie-cutter mentally in regards EuroDisney. Disney felt that since it had success in Japan, a country far different from their own culturally, then success would be assured in a European country that is culturally parallel to the US. This was hubris on the part of Disney. The company should treat each cultural as an independent unit.
It is the cultural issue European predilection misconstrued by Disney's organization in regards to the construction of the park and delivery of services and goods that made the company unique to American society was absent in the design of the......

...In April 1992, Disney opened the door of EuroDisney at 30 kilometers east of Paris. During that time, it was designed to be the biggest and most impressive theme park that Disney has ever built in the world. Before the EuroDisney, Disney has built up theme park in California, Florida and Japan. When Disney saw the success of Tokyo Disneyland, they wanted to build other theme parks outside America and after choosing from over 200 potential sites included Spain, Italy and Greece; Paris was the chosen one.
The management of Disney has expected to receive the same behaviour in EuroDisney as their Japanese counterparts in Tokyo Disneyland but they actually experienced the exact opposite of what they experienced in Japan. At EuroDisney, families were unwilling to spend the US$280 a day which was only to enjoy the attractions of the park with a milkshake and a hamburger. Staying overnight was not even in their mind as the prices were very high. Paris was chosen due to its location and also that it is the Europe’s most popular city for tourist destination. The management planned to received 11 million visitors and generate more than US$100 million during the first year but the attendance reached only 9.2 million and by summer 1994, they made a loss of more than US$900 million. The financial losses were so huge that the President had to put in place a rescue package to make EuroDisney back on firm financial ground. They had to revise their marketing plan and made new strategic and......

...October 1, 2014
MKT 608
Case Study 2-1
The Not-So-Wonderful World of EuroDisney
Things Are Better Now at Disneyland Resort Paris
1. What factors contributed to EuroDisney’s poor performance during its first year of operation? What factors contributed to Hong Kong Disney’s poor performance during its first year?
There were two major factors that contributed to EuroDisney’s poor performance during its first year of operation. The two factors include: market research and cultural competency. Within those two factors there were specific details that demonstrate where and why they failed poorly. There are listed below:
* Instead of using French cartoon characters, American characters were used.
* Europeans are known to enjoy drinking wine, but the park banned alcohol completely.
* A misunderstanding regarding breakfast availability cause issues with the guest.
* Disney was informed Europeans did not eat breakfast, which was not correct.
* Pricing was an issue
* Many Europeans believed the prices were too high and would not pay.
* Other big events were occurring at the same time the parked open, which cause lots of issues as well
At Hong Kong Disney, they had experienced the opposite of what EuroDisney experienced. Hong Kong tried to hard to make it fit. They conducted research and tried to make it work, but guest were disappointed. The park did not differ from other amusement parks in China and therefore......

...Case Study
EuroDisney
1. What factors contributed to EuroDisney's poor performance during its first year of operation? What factors contributed to Hong Kong Disney's poor performance during its first year?
It was cheaper for European families to travel to Disney World in Orlando, FL. Not only was the trip to Orlando going to be cheaper, but it was almost guaranteed that the weather was going to be spectacular. People go on vacation to have a good time, but more importantly to enjoy the weather. People in Europe and around the world are not going to vacation at a spot where the weather is going to be unpredictable. France gets cold in the winter, therefore going to Disney World in Orlando would be more logical. It will be cheaper and the weather is going to be decent for whenever you choose to go.
The French culture did not like the American Fairy-tale characters. The French had their own fairy-tale characters; one even has a park located near EuroDisney. Starting up a company internationally is an extremely hard task. Researching the culture of the country in which the company is going to be located is extremely important. When the plans to bring EuroDisney to Paris were finalized, they should have begun extensive research on the culture and history of France. By not doing that Disney may have insulted the French, but more so they hurt their chances of making money.
The whole Disney idea was not sitting well with the French people. For example, during a trip...

...Kong Disney's poor performance during its first year?
Many factors contributed to Euro Disney' poor performance during the first year of operation and many of these factors could have been alleviated if the proper factors would have been previously considered. The first year for EuroDisney was unpleasant and devastating because of various poor decisions taken by the management besides some external factors. Major aspects involve location, foreign exchange rates, management problems, poor understanding of the marketplace and the cultural dissimilarities between the two nations and their distinct ways to business and life.
The Gulf war in 1991 had a negative impact and during the same period, Europe was facing a recession. The opening of the park in 1992 with huge events such as the Olympic Games in Barcelona during the summertime and the World’s Fair in Seville was disadvantageous to EuroDisney. Besides this entertaining occurrence, the currency movement made going abroad for vacation is a cheap option for Europeans and gets an additional benefit of enjoying the weather. This resulted in just a minimal difference between going to Disneyland Orlando and EuroDisney for the holidays. Hence, EuroDisney did not have many guests visiting it that year. Almost none of its targets were met and with costs rising, they faced severe challenges ahead.. In order to attract customers, they lowered their prices and introduced new rides that ultimately improved its performance.
Another......

...values, etc)?. What role does ethnocentrism play in the story of EuroDisney’s launch?
At the beginning, in 1992 Disney didn’t do any specification of their park, they took exactly the same than they already did, for example in California. Everything was under a the American dream, or the Disney dreams. When they arrived they realised that the price of tickets and hostel were too expansive for French, so they divided the price by 25% in average in order to attract new costumers. They also made employees more smiling and friendly, especially first line workers, the one who were directly in contact with costumers.
They changed the name of the park to be sure that it will suit to French people, and to give him a really identity Instead of EuroDisney, they called it, Disneyland Paris. (Chesneaux, 2003)
4. How did Disney management use their experience in France in their subsequent international efforts in other parts of the world? Specifically, what went wrong and what went right in Hong Kong and why?
In Hong Kong, the problem was different, due to the numerous years of communism, and against America, Disney cartoon were prohibited. In consequence Disney had first to get the future costumers use to their characters. Moreover they try to integrate in the park some traditional way of thinking and culture. In order to accept it, they build the park with the method of Feng shui, to be sure that everything is in the right lace at the right moment, to be sure that......

...1. What factors contributed to EuroDisney’s poor performance during its first year of operation? What factors contributed to Hong Kong Disney’s poor performance during its first year?
The first year for EuroDisney was disastrous due to several bad decisions taken by the management as well as some external factors. The primary reason for the failure was its high cost. Hotel rooms at the park were charging rates comparable to luxurious hotels. People found it cheaper to fly to Disney World Florida and get an additional benefit of enjoying the weather.
Hong Kong Disneyland faced different issues. Firstly, people were not familiar with the characters since Disney was banned for 40 years in China. The park was small, with just a few rides compared to other Disneyland's, therefore customers were not interested. Despite these issues, it fared better since it incorporated a lot of Chinese culture.
2. To what degree do you consider that these factors were (a) foreseeable and (b) controllable by EuroDisney, Hong KongDisney, or the parent company, Disney?
Many of these factors were foreseeable such as the cross cultural ignorance, world fair in Sivelle and Barcelona Olympics in 1992 that attracted more tourists, ban on alcohol consumption despite the fact that French cannot have meal without wine and difference in Attitude of American tourists/parents and European ones.
Controllable elements include mistaken assumptions, pricing policies and initial pricing. Also, early......

...CASE 2-1
Ali Zein Kazmi
February 1, 1999
THE NOT-SO-WONDERFUL-WORLD OF EURODISNEY
-THINGS ARE BETTER NOW AT PARIS DISNEYLAND-
1. What are the factors contributed to EuroDisney’s poor performance during its first year of operation?
Walt Disney overestimated the magic that was to be in introducing Europe's most lavish and extravagant theme park in April of 1992. The fiscal year 1992-1993 brought EuroDisney a loss of nearly $1 billion.
Mickey, a major promotion tool of Disney management did not create reason or attraction enough for the European community, unlike at the sister theme park Tokyo Disneyland. European families found EuroDisney to be an “over-rated” promotion of American culture and lifestyle, contrary to what was seen by Disney's management as a family affair. In the initial years of operation this led to an overestimation of expected revenue and audience figures. Advertising messages had been miscommunicated, “emphasizing glitz and size…not the rides or attractions”. Disney remained unsuccessful in attracting customers just by vigorous brand name promotion communicated through Mickey and his friends. Moreover, families were reluctant to pay hefty price tags on accommodation and entertainment needed to enjoy the attractions of the park. Disney failed to manage a healthy relationship with partner organizations in the host country, which most importantly alienated them from their number one ally, the French government.
Regional affairs in......

...Union, they are distinct and sovereign culturally.
Put simply, EuroDisney was marketed poorly. Disney built, promoted, and communicated EuroDisney as a piece of America in Europe. Cultural differences were neglected. In the case, we see that Fresh culture also has its own cartoon characters such as Asterix, who has a theme park not far from EuroDisney. Furthermore, Disney banned alcohol in a culture that has a deep appreciation for wine.
Disney failed to understand French national character, their insecurities over cultural invasion, and their deep commitment to maintaining their identity.
Hong Kong Disney faces cultural problems as well, but in a different way. Many Chinese people were not familiar with Disney characters prior to the entrance of Hong Kong Disney. It was hard for Disney to create this familiarity and recognition without that long term relationship. Advertisements were run to create recognition but they were unfit and offensive to the Chinese market. Ads showed families of four enjoying the park when China’s one child law prevents most families from having more than one child. Disney quickly remedied this. Beyond marketing, people complained that the park was too small and did not have enough attractions.
2. To what degree do you consider that these factors were (a) foreseeable and (b) controllable by EuroDisney, Hong Kong Disney, or the parent company, Disney?
A large part of EuroDisney and Hong Kong Disney’s first year consisted of controllable......

...-------------------------------------------------
THE NOT-SO-WONDERFUL WORLD OF EURODISNEY
Things Are Better Now at Disneyland Resort Paris
February 16, 2014
mktg 417
WIU
February 16, 2014
mktg 417
WIU
JULIA BIDDENSTADT & TAYLOR SMITH
JULIA BIDDENSTADT & TAYLOR SMITH
1. The major factors that contributed to EuroDisney’s poor performance was the lack of market research and cultural awareness. EuroDisney was built just like American Disney parks, without giving though to cultural differences. American characters were used, instead of French cartoon characters. Disney banned alcohol in a culture that enjoys drinking wine. Everyone showed up for breakfast in the mornings, when Disney had cut down their serving because they were erroneously informed that Europeans do not eat breakfast. Pricing strategy was not accomplished correctly. Many Europeans would not pay the prices that EuroDisney was charging. In addition, Europeans do not vacation as long as Americans do. Other factors were the transatlantic airfare war and currency movement. This made it cheaper to go to Disneyland Orlando than EuroDisney. In addition, the park opened during the Olympics in Barcelona, and the World’s Fair in Seville.
Hong Kong Disney had the exact opposite problems. Disney did its research and tried to make the park fit in with its surroundings, and guests were disappointed. The park was very small, and visitors thought it was just like all the other amusement......

...from visiting the park.
* Over-confidence – Overwhelmed by the success of Tokyo Disney Land, Euro Disney overlooked many factors like culture and the weather. They thought that their marketing strategy in other countries would still work in Europe.
* European’s view of America – According to survey done to 16 countries in Europe, more Europeans have negative perception of America in terms of food, movies, politics and so on. Moreover, Europeans are known to be arrogant people who highly value their culture. Therefore, a too “Americanize” approach in marketing and in the theme park itself will not work in Europe. They think that US has played a huge role in globalization thus threatening their own identity.
* Economic Forces – EuroDisney failed to anticipate the recession in 1992 which led to low purchasing power of the Europeans.
* Ethnocentrism – Euro Disney’s first strategy was to use their own cultural belief and ethics in marketing and eventually change the market to do the same. They thought that once Euro Disney opens, Europeans would automatically love it. After learning their mistakes, one Disney executive even said “"We were arrogant, it was like, we were building the Taj Mahal and people will come on our terms."
* Other Factors – Euro Disney did not fully understand or chose to overlook the preferences of the French Market. They banned alcohol even though it’s part of the European meal. There are also many challenges that arise due to their......

...1. The first year of Eurodisney in Europe was disastrous for many reasons. Actually, the first one could be the weather. People who are going on vacations to have a good time, but more importantly to enjoy the weather. People in Europe or from everywhere are not going to vacation at a spot where the weather is going to be irregular; they choose a place where they have more chances to enjoy the journey. France get cold in the winter, therefore going to Disney World in Orlando would be more logical. It will be cheaper and the weather is going to be decent for whenever you choose to go.
Secondly, European and other people haven’t got the same Fairy-tale culture. In France, they have their own characters and stories. Maybe it’s because of that Mickey did not create reason or attraction enough for the European community, unlike at the sister theme park Tokyo Disneyland.
The diffenrence of price could be also a reason of this failure. For example, if we compare how much can pay a French and a Japanese family to enjoy a whole day in family in Eurodisney, the gap is really big ($280 and $600).
The macro-environmental scanning of namely, the political, the cultural, and the economic aspects of Europe had been grossly miscalculated. They definitely had to change their way of seeing European people like American people and adapt Eurodisney to the European culture.
For the Hong kong one, I think the most important thing is that the designers didn’t create the park as the......